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beastreader's review
4.0
Harold Middleton is a former war crimes investigator. He was heading back to the States when he was detained. He thought it was because he held in his possession an unscripted manuscript of composer, Frederic Chopin. The police inform Harold that he is a suspect for murder. Harold is the most unlikely person to commit murder or is he? Also what Harold thought was a fake manuscript has turned out to be the real deal. Join Harold as he races from Poland to America in The Chopin Manuscript.
In The Cooper Bracelet, Harold returns after his wild adventure with the police and the Chopin manuscript. Only this time Harold’s wife is involved. This story will have readers traveling to even more countries as an international plot has been implemented.
Author, M.J. Rose explains the concept for Watchlist. Back in 2004 when she joined the International Thriller Writers, she wanted to bring notice to thriller writes. Though how do you do so in a new and exciting way? She can up with the idea of releasing a book one chapter at a time on audio. The most important step of all is how will authors respond to this idea and how do you get them to buy in? Well as Ms. Rose describes, it is very easy… you just pick up the phone and call the authors. So many authors said yes that Ms. Rose herself lost a spot in this book. Mr. Deavers was the brain child behind the plot and main character. The rest was up to the other authors to write how this story should play out. Watchlist is composed of two stories…The Chopin Manuscript and the sequel, The Cooper Bracelet.
Calling all thriller/suspense/mystery fans…If you have not heard of or checked out Watchlist then you should. Ever since I first saw this book in hardback, I have wanted to read this book. I can tell you that this book was pretty much right up there with my expectations of it. It had the suspense, a good plot, and some of the best authors to help the story along as well as the characters.
In The Cooper Bracelet, Harold returns after his wild adventure with the police and the Chopin manuscript. Only this time Harold’s wife is involved. This story will have readers traveling to even more countries as an international plot has been implemented.
Author, M.J. Rose explains the concept for Watchlist. Back in 2004 when she joined the International Thriller Writers, she wanted to bring notice to thriller writes. Though how do you do so in a new and exciting way? She can up with the idea of releasing a book one chapter at a time on audio. The most important step of all is how will authors respond to this idea and how do you get them to buy in? Well as Ms. Rose describes, it is very easy… you just pick up the phone and call the authors. So many authors said yes that Ms. Rose herself lost a spot in this book. Mr. Deavers was the brain child behind the plot and main character. The rest was up to the other authors to write how this story should play out. Watchlist is composed of two stories…The Chopin Manuscript and the sequel, The Cooper Bracelet.
Calling all thriller/suspense/mystery fans…If you have not heard of or checked out Watchlist then you should. Ever since I first saw this book in hardback, I have wanted to read this book. I can tell you that this book was pretty much right up there with my expectations of it. It had the suspense, a good plot, and some of the best authors to help the story along as well as the characters.
crippygirl's review
3.0
loved the author variety. but, only read the first of the 2 stories. keeps you guessing.
lazygal's review
2.0
I'll be the first to admit I'm not a great fan of the thriller genre, and this book didn't convince me I was missing much. Quite possibly it wasn't the genre's fault, but the fact that this is a gimmick book. What's the gimmick? Gather a bunch of thriller writers (the only names I recognized were Jeffrey Deaver and Lisa Scottoline, but I'm sure the others are well-known to thriller fans) and have them add chapters to the stories.
While the plot hung together as much as one would expect from a "you can't trust this person/motive/fact because it's really some twist you don't see coming" genre, each chapter does have a different flavor because of the different authors. Some had more dialogue, some more description (And seriously, can we call a halt to identifying leather as "buttery soft"? I get it. Actually, I got it, about ten years ago. Leather = buttery soft. Let's move on.), some were more action-based. That slight difference is, I'm sure, in place so that fans of Gayle Lynds or Peter Spiegelman can have that moment of recognition when "their" writer appears.
As far as plot goes, they (this is two novellas in one volume) seemed pretty average and only there to really hold the gimmick together.
ARC provided by publisher.
While the plot hung together as much as one would expect from a "you can't trust this person/motive/fact because it's really some twist you don't see coming" genre, each chapter does have a different flavor because of the different authors. Some had more dialogue, some more description (And seriously, can we call a halt to identifying leather as "buttery soft"? I get it. Actually, I got it, about ten years ago. Leather = buttery soft. Let's move on.), some were more action-based. That slight difference is, I'm sure, in place so that fans of Gayle Lynds or Peter Spiegelman can have that moment of recognition when "their" writer appears.
As far as plot goes, they (this is two novellas in one volume) seemed pretty average and only there to really hold the gimmick together.
ARC provided by publisher.
bibliobabe94's review
3.0
Interesting to see the different authors' perspectives and how it meshes into one pretty good story line.
jeffs's review against another edition
2.0
Even less enjoyable than the first Watchlist story in this book. I'm a huge Deaver fan and normally can't put one of his books down. Maybe it's just not for me, but Copper Bracelet felt like a mess. There were too many characters and storylines to keep up with, which makes sense considering the number of authors that contributed.
I made it through the book but I wasn't happy about it.
I made it through the book but I wasn't happy about it.
cdel13's review against another edition
3.0
Eh. Typical thriller. Kept me interested, I read it in a few days, I was in the mood for a thriller novel, so the stars aligned to make it doable. I was intrigued, didn't know anything about the book going in, so I was a little thrown by the different authors' voices throughout, but it didn't throw me for a loop or keep me from enjoying the story. Fast-paced, well-written, I'd give it 3.5.
psalmcat's review against another edition
3.0
Uneven, a little patchy and unbelievable. Very much in the TV/Movie vein of suspense. Not horrible, but not the best book ever.
numbat's review against another edition
2.0
An interesting idea but came across a little disjointed.
pussreboots's review against another edition
4.0
Watchlist by Jeffery Deaveris and twenty-one other mystery authors brings together two serial thriller audio novellas: The Chopin Manuscript and The Copper Bracelet. Combined the two mysteries make a 13 disc (roughly 15 hours) set.
The Chopin Manuscript introduces a small core of characters amongst a huge ensemble of villains, heroes and victims. The heroes are Harry Middleton, his daughter Charley, Nora Tesla and a young Polish violin player. They are fighting for their lives as a Chopin manuscript appears to have a coded recipe for a weapon of mass destruction. The Copper Bracelet brings these four back together with a new ensemble. This time there's something afoot in Kashmir that could start the next world war and throw the United States into chaos.
The first novella, being the one that tried out the concept of an exquisite corpse audio serial is much rougher than its sequel. To put it bluntly, it's a hokey thriller. It was a fun diversion while driving around town, but I'm not sure I'd have the patience for it if I were giving it my full attention!
The Chopin Manuscript introduces a small core of characters amongst a huge ensemble of villains, heroes and victims. The heroes are Harry Middleton, his daughter Charley, Nora Tesla and a young Polish violin player. They are fighting for their lives as a Chopin manuscript appears to have a coded recipe for a weapon of mass destruction. The Copper Bracelet brings these four back together with a new ensemble. This time there's something afoot in Kashmir that could start the next world war and throw the United States into chaos.
The first novella, being the one that tried out the concept of an exquisite corpse audio serial is much rougher than its sequel. To put it bluntly, it's a hokey thriller. It was a fun diversion while driving around town, but I'm not sure I'd have the patience for it if I were giving it my full attention!
librarianlaurad's review against another edition
2.0
Had trouble with this format. Found the plot difficult to follow.
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